Introducing Wowhead Premium

Here at Wowhead, we've dedicated a lot of time and effort to making sure that we can give you the best possible experience. We are proud—not only are we proud of the site, but we're proud to be a part of the community that has grown up around it. It's important to us to ensure that we continue to provide the same level of quality for the members of the community.

As a result, we've created a way to give our most loyal community members an enhanced experience: Introducing Wowhead Premium.

Wowhead Premium is a subscription service, designed to make your site experience even better. You'll get a whole list of perks—including ad-free browsing, some cool new graphics, bonus features (and status) in the forums and more. More importantly, as an acknowledged supporter of the site, you'll get increased access to the Wowhead staff and the ability to influence what we do in the future. We're including a special e-mail address for Premium members that goes directly to me and Sko, and that gives you the ability to quickly get ahold of us and give us feedback and suggestions for the site. I'm not kidding about that by the way—I get these emails forwarded to my phone. And all this for less than a cup of coffee. :)

Premium member status and all it entails can be had for $9.99 ($3.33 / month) for a 3 month subscription, or $2.50 / month if you subscribe for a full year. We're also taking a page from Blizzard, and allowing you to "Refer-A-Friend"—If a friend or a guildmate signs up using your referral code, you get a free month of Premium service. And finally, your Wowhead Premium subscription carries over onto other ZAM Network sites, giving you premium access to four sites for the price of one!

Here's what Wowhead Premium gets you:

No ads (also makes the pages wider for better viewing!)

No captcha (the little "enter the code in the box" thing)

Custom forum avatars

A free pass to the front of the Armory queue whenever you request Profiler resyncs

Increased character limits for comments and forum posts

A special Premium border for your forum avatar

A special Premium badge for your user page

Access to a special Premium e-mail address for input on site features and direction

Please note (and this is incredibly important): Wowhead is not becoming a pay site. We have no intention of charging you for existing features. We believe Wowhead should always remain free, and it's very important to us that users who do NOT choose to upgrade to a Premium account are not penalized in any way. Wowhead Premium is just a way for you to make your Wowhead experience better, become more involved in the site, and to show everyone how cool you truly are—and a way for us to say thank you for your years of support. :)

Comment by Nukedoom

Comment by darth603

I dislike this idea. First a site adds a few "Premium" features, then they start removing things from baseline and adding them to the "premium" list.

Comment by TheAshenVerdict

on 2009-07-22T20:14:55-05:00

Didn't they mock curse for making a premium membership? I'll try to source it.

Comment by toastmaster7727

on 2009-07-22T20:16:33-05:00

The most annoying ads are from the ABC Family channel that play video sounds out of nowhere. Other than that I really don't see any "useful" benefits. Only ones that make your user page/forum posts look pretty. Come on guys. We already have Blizzard poking at us for money. :(

Comment by Yarimaviking

on 2009-07-22T20:16:50-05:00

Cool idea!I'll think about it, it is relatively cheap...

Comment by DoctorLore

on 2009-07-22T20:22:09-05:00

I have to say, no no no no, since this small step is a slippery slope...

Oh and can I get an option to get rid of the button on top that says premium upgrade, it bothers me more then ads

Comment by clonjohn55

This is just another step from a fansite to a money making business.I am also glad that this is optional cause its dam useless

Comment by Queggy

on 2009-07-22T20:25:35-05:00

This is just another step from a fansite to a money making business.I am also glad that this is optional cause its dam uselessFlame me if you dare

/flameI dared.

Comment by Notnotadk

on 2009-07-22T20:36:20-05:00

This is a horrible.....oh wait...I fell for the bait. Wowhead Premium got me hook, line and sinker. I will have to say that the features described are delivered without hesitation and there is a significant change for the armory queuing. I know that may not mean much to some, but I do like cutting in line.

Comment by trademen

on 2009-07-22T20:41:08-05:00

meh. I really don't see the point in paying, seeing how I get 99% of the information I want from the site from other users and not the wowhead staff. If anyone should be getting paid it's the people who patrol their class's forum and help new commers.

No thanks, you can keep your icons and frilly edges.

Although...one thing I would pay for would be the ability to not have to put in a random code each time I post.

Comment by Philios

on 2009-07-22T20:41:14-05:00

Yay.... More greedy mofos with their hand out.......

Comment by jimmywolf

on 2009-07-22T20:42:20-05:00

i enjoy wowhead very much an check it everyday i dont mind this change since it not forced

Comment by Urdnot

on 2009-07-22T20:44:00-05:00

Yay.... More greedy mofos with their hand out.......

A massive website of Wowhead's size isn't easy to maintain. I'm happy to give them money so they can keep the site up and improve on an already great site.

Comment by darth603

on 2009-07-22T20:46:36-05:00

meh. I really don't see the point in paying, seeing how I get 99% of the information I want from the site from other users and not the wowhead staff. If anyone should be getting paid it's the people who patrol their class's forum and help new commers.

No thanks, you can keep your icons and frilly edges.

Although...one thing I would pay for would be the ability to not have to put in a random code each time I post.

That's for now. At some point down the line, we'll probably see baseline features- the profiler, searching, commenting, actually being able to read other peoples' comments- being moved to premium. That's how most sites that go to premium accounts do. First, all new features are made premium only. Then they start chipping away at what the non-premium members can do.

Comment by Banikiya

on 2009-07-22T20:48:57-05:00

Looks good. Unlike all the other posters, I think this is a good thing for the site. More money means more content, right?

/crosses fingers

Comment by Wildhorn

on 2009-07-22T20:49:24-05:00

Beware the lolchair!

Comment by Skyfire

on 2009-07-22T20:51:37-05:00

Just as a forenote, this thread is being monitored (quite actively). Your feedback—large, small, positive, negative—will at some point likely be responded to here.

Comment by FeyGyrl

on 2009-07-22T20:52:54-05:00

I can't be excited about this, I am sorry....However, I am grateful that I do not feel I'll really be missing anything by not taking this premium upgrade, since it all appears to be cosmetic in nature. I also appreciate that it will not be mandatory. The ads don't bother me; and I'm not concerned with avatars and such. The expedited access to the PTB for the site is nice, but since I have never needed anything of it's like in the past, it's not enough to inspire me to spend any money. Perhaps for folks who need that access, or the resyhch benny, it'll be worth the coppers. :)

Good luck with it, though.....

Comment by trademen

on 2009-07-22T20:54:23-05:00

meh. I really don't see the point in paying, seeing how I get 99% of the information I want from the site from other users and not the wowhead staff. If anyone should be getting paid it's the people who patrol their class's forum and help new commers.

No thanks, you can keep your icons and frilly edges.

Although...one thing I would pay for would be the ability to not have to put in a random code each time I post.

That's for now. At some point down the line, we'll probably see baseline features- the profiler, searching, commenting, actually being able to read other peoples' comments- being moved to premium. That's how most sites that go to premium accounts do. First, all new features are made premium only. Then they start chipping away at what the non-premium members can do.

I know, I use to use www.gaiaonline.com for their forums. Then they started to sell unique monthly items for yur avatar to wear for $4 each. Within 2 years the site was completly down the crapper. 9/10 of announcements on the sites are advertisments and all the new items being added to the game are for paying members only.

Mark my words in stone: This will not end here.

Comment by darth603

on 2009-07-22T21:05:55-05:00

Just as a forenote, this thread is being monitored (quite actively). Your feedback—large, small, positive, negative—will at some point likely be responded to here.

Very good to hear that people are taking an interest in our feedback. That's more than a lot of sites are willing to say.